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The Notorious B.I.G.
Wallace in 1997
Born	Christopher George Latore Wallace (1972-05-21)May 21, 1972 Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
Died	March 9, 1997(1997-03-09) (aged 24) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Drive-by homicide (gunshot wound)
Other names	Biggie Smalls Biggie Big Frank White Big Poppa MC CWest
Occupations	Rapper songwriter
Years active	1992–1997
Spouse	Faith Evans ​ ​(m. 1994; sep. 1996)​
Children	2, including C. J.
Awards	Full list
Musical career
Genres	Hip hop East Coast hip hop gangsta rap
Labels	Bad Boy Atlantic Arista Uptown
Musical artist

Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), known professionally as the Notorious B.I.G., and formerly by the stage name Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in the New York rap scene and gangsta rap traditions, he is widely considered one of the greatest rappers of all time. Wallace became known for his distinctive, laidback lyrical delivery, offsetting his lyrics' often grim content. His music was usually semi-autobiographical, telling of hardship and criminality but also of debauchery and celebration.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, Wallace was the first artist to sign with Sean "Puffy" Combs's Bad Boy Records in 1993. That same year, he gained recognition for his guest appearances on several other artists' singles. His debut studio album, Ready to Die (1994), received widespread critical acclaim and included his signature tracks "Juicy" and "Big Poppa". This album made him the central figure in East Coast hip hop, helping to restore New York's prominence at a time when the West Coast was dominating the genre. In 1995, Wallace was named Rapper of the Year at the Billboard Music Awards. The following year, Wallace led his protégé group, Junior M.A.F.I.A.—which included longtime friends like Lil' Kim—to chart success.

While working on his second album in 1996, he became embroiled in the growing East Coast–West Coast hip hop feud. After Tupac Shakur was murdered in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in September 1996, rumors circulated suggesting that criminal elements connected to the Bad Boy camp might have been involved, given Wallace's public feud with Shakur. On March 9, 1997, six months after Shakur's death, Wallace was also killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles by an unknown assailant. Two weeks later, his second album, Life After Death (1997), was issued as a posthumous double album; it debuted atop the Billboard 200, yielded two Billboard Hot 100-number one singles: "Hypnotize" and "Mo Money Mo Problems" (featuring Puff Daddy and Mase), and received diamond certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

With two posthumous albums released, Wallace's certified U.S. sales exceed 28 million copies, including 21 million albums. Rolling Stone has called him the "greatest rapper that ever lived", and, in 2015, Billboard named him the greatest rapper of all time. The Source magazine named him the greatest rapper of all time in its 150th issue. In 2006, MTV ranked him at No. 3 on their list of The Greatest MCs of All Time, calling him possibly "the most skillful ever on the mic". In 2020, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Life and career

1972–1991: Early life

Christopher George Latore Wallace was born at the Cumberland Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, on May 21, 1972. Wallace was the only child of Jamaican immigrant parents; his mother, Voletta Wallace, was a preschool teacher, while his father, Selwyn George Latore, was a welder and politician. At two months and five months old, Wallace started nursery school, and by the age of five, he was attending preschool at Quincy-Lexington Open Door Day Care Center, where he was already bigger than most of the other children. Three months before Wallace's third birthday, his father left the family, leaving his mother to raise him while working two jobs. Wallace grew up at 226 St. James Place in Brooklyn's Clinton Hill, near the border of Bedford-Stuyvesant. As a child, Wallace spent most of his time in Fulton Avenue, where he was introduced to drug dealing, alcholics, and gambling. Raised as a Jehovah's Witness, Wallace attended St. Peter Claver Church in Brooklyn, graduating from the college in 1982. He excelled in English at Queen of All Saints Middle School. He later transferred to Westinghouse High School, a public school that was also attended by several future celebrities, including Jay-Z and Busta Rhymes.

While attending Westinghouse High School, Wallace weighed 91 kilograms (201 lb), which earned him the nickname "Big". During this period, his interest in drug dealing intensified, being influenced by the crack epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s. A friend of his introduced him to buying and selling marijuana when he has around the age of twelve. Having grown up in a strict household, Wallace concealed the money he earned on the roof of his apartment. At the time, his mother had no idea about this; she only discovered it when he was twenty years old. Despite being an honor student, Wallace dropped out of school at the age of sixteen during his junior year due to his growing interest in drug dealing. In 1989, he was arrested in Brooklyn on weapons charges and sentenced to five years of probation. The following year, he was arrested for violating that probation. A year later, Wallace was arrested in North Carolina for dealing crack cocaine. He spent nine months in jail before making bail.

In his early life, Wallace was influenced by black artists like the Dramatics, Blue Magic, Teddy Pendergrass, Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye. He was also well-acquainted with the vibrant performances of Parliament-Funkadelic, Earth, Wind & Fire, Kool & the Gang, and Chic. During visits to his parents' homeland of Jamaica, he was influenced by its prominent native genres, including jazz, reggae, soul, and mento. As Wallace entered adolescence, he started listening to artists like Run-DMC and LL Cool J. Wallace adopted with the stage name CWest and, along with two of his friends, Michael Bynum and Hubert Sams, he formed the Techniques. Wallace met Donald Harrison, a saxophonist from New Orleans. At Harrison's home studio, the Techniques worked on their first songs together. As the trio grew older, their interests shifted; Sams became focused on high school football, while Bynum lost interest in the music industry. Wallace adopted his second stage name, Biggie Smalls, from Calvin Lockhart's character in the 1975 film Let's Do It Again.

1991–1994: Early career and first child

After his release from jail, with a disc jockey named 50 Grand, Wallace produced his first demo tape in 1991 called "Microphone Murderer". Although Wallace reportedly had little ambition for the tape, local disc jockey Mister Cee, known for his work with Big Daddy Kane and the Juice Crew, discovered and promoted it. Mister Cee sent the tape to Matteo Capoluongo, an editor at The Source magazine, who featured the track in the "Unsigned Hype" section in March 1992, a chart dedicated to showcasing promising rappers, including Wallace. That year, Wallace started gaining exposure; after reading the "Unsigned Hype" section, Sean "Puffy" Combs reached out to and arranged to meet him. Combs quickly connected Wallace to rhyme on the remix of Mary J. Blige's hit "Real Love".

In 1992, Wallace's girlfriend, Jan Jackson, became pregnant, and he was signed to Uptown Records in March by Combs. Wallace's first chance to record a solo track for Uptown Records, rather than featuring on another artist's remix, came in 1993 when Combs was creating a song for the soundtrack of the hip hop comedy Who's the Man?. The song was "Party and Bullshit", produced by the Brooklyn-based Easy Mo Bee. The song was heavily inspired by "Niggers Are Scared of Revolution" by the Last Poets, which uses sarcasm, frustration, and humor to critique young Black people's lack of seriousness in the struggle for equality. In the track, vocalist Umar Bin Hassan delivers lines like "niggas will party and bullshit, and party and bullshit". Development on Wallace's first album began at Capoluongo's apartment in late 1992. Wallace appeared on Heavy D & the Boyz's 1992 album Blue Funk, on the track "A Buncha Niggas".

In July 1993—a month before Wallace's first child was born—Combs was fired from Uptown Records by his mentor Andre Harrell, resulting in the loss of access to the songs recorded at that time. Jan gave birth to T'yanna Dream Wallace on August 8, 1993. Wallace promised his daughter "everything she wanted," believing that if he had experienced the same support in his own childhood, he would have graduated at the top of his class. Soon after he was fired, Combs started his own record, Bad Boy Records, and took Wallace with him. Although Wallace continued dealing drugs, Combs discovered this and insisted he stop. When Wallace had found out the name Biggie Smalls was already taken, he adopted a new moniker, settling on the Notorious B.I.G. permanently. Wallace explained that the acronym "B.I.G." stood for "Business Instead of Game". Combs and Clive Davis, then CEO of Arista Records, reached an agreement in which Davis provided Combs with a US$1.5 million advance and full creative control. Combs promptly used the money to repurchase the tracks recorded for Wallace's album from Harrell.

The "Real Love" remix single was followed by another remix of a Mary J. Blige song, "What's the 411?". Wallace's success continued, though to a lesser extent, with remixes of Neneh Cherry's "Buddy X" and reggae artist Super Cat's "Dolly My Baby" in 1993. In July 1994, Wallace appeared alongside LL Cool J and Busta Rhymes on a remix of his labelmate Craig Mack's track "Flava in Ya Ear", which reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Flava in Ya Ear" reached No. 1 on the rap chart for three consecutive weeks.

1994: Ready to Die, marriage, and Junior M.A.F.I.A.

On August 4, 1994, Wallace married R&B singer Faith Evans, whom he first met in June of that year at a promotional photoshoot. Wallace and Mo Bee originally wanted "Machine Gun Funk" as the upcoming album's first single due to its "funky, upbeat" sound, but Combs preferred a "smoother" sound for the release. The upcoming album's first song to be released was the title track, "Ready to Die", followed shortly by "Gimme the Loot", "Things Done Changed", "Machine Gun Funk", and "Warning". Five days after his marriage, Wallace had his first pop chart success as a solo artist with double A-side, "Juicy / Unbelievable", which reached No. 27 as the lead single to his debut album. Recorded at the Hit Factory between 1993 and 1994, Wallace released his debut studio album, Ready to Die, on September 13, 1994. Inspired by Snoop Dogg's bold, violent, and darkly humorous hit records, Wallace sought to create a similar style with Ready to Die, infused with an East Coast influence. Wallace originally wanted to name the album The Teflon Don, drawing inspiration from John Gotti, who was then making headlines for his ability to avoid legal troubles. However, Combs disagreed, arguing that the title should make an impact but in a way that would "represent for the masses". Wallace ultimately agreed to follow Combs' decision, and the two conceived the name Ready to Die.

Ready to Die reached No. 13 on the Billboard 200 chart, sold 500,000 copies in its first week, and was eventually certified four times platinum. The album shifted attention back to East Coast hip hop at a time when West Coast hip hop dominated U.S. charts. The album received positive reviews upon release and has been widely praised in retrospect. In addition to "Juicy", the album produced two other hit singles: the platinum-selling "Big Poppa", which topped the U.S. rap chart and "One More Chance", which sold one million copies in 1995 (the year of its release). Described as "the most memorable moment in the album", the track "Suicidal Thoughts" reflects on the mistakes in his life, contemplates suicide, and ultimately ends the song by killing himself. Busta Rhymes recalled seeing Wallace handing out copies of Ready to Die from his home, which the former saw as "his way of marketing himself". In 1994, Wallace formed his hip hop, protégé group Junior M.A.F.I.A., which included many of his childhood friends, such as Lil' Kim and Lil' Cease. The name is a backronym for "Masters at Finding Intelligent Attitudes".

Around the time of the album's release, Wallace formed a friendship with fellow rapper Tupac Shakur in Los Angeles. Lil' Cease remembered the two as being very close, often traveling together when they weren't working. He noted that Wallace frequently visited Shakur's home, and they spent time together whenever Shakur was in California or Washington, D.C. Yukmouth, an Oakland emcee, stated that Wallace's style was influenced by Shakur. Wallace also befriended basketball player Shaquille O'Neal. O'Neal said they were introduced during a listening session for "Gimme the Loot"; Wallace mentioned him in the lyrics and thereby attracted O'Neal to his music. O'Neal requested a collaboration with Wallace, which resulted in the song "You Can't Stop the Reign". According to Combs, Wallace would not collaborate with "anybody he didn't really respect" and that Wallace paid O'Neal his respect by "shouting him out". According to Combs, Wallace would only collaborate with those he truly respected, and by "shouting him out," he showed O'Neal that respect. In 2015, Daz Dillinger, a frequent collaborator with Shakur, said that he and Wallace were "cool", with Wallace traveling to meet him to smoke cannabis and record two songs.

1995: Conspiracy and coastal feud

In August 1995, Junior M.A.F.I.A. released their debut album Conspiracy. The record went gold and its singles, "Player's Anthem" and "Get Money", both featuring Wallace, went gold and platinum. Wallace continued to work with R&B artists, collaborating with R&B groups 112 (on "Only You") and Total (on "Can't You See"), with both reaching the top 20 of the Hot 100. By the end of the year, Wallace was the top-selling male solo artist and rapper on the U.S. pop and R&B charts. In July 1995, he appeared on the cover of The Source with the caption "The King of New York Takes Over", a reference to his alias Frank White, based on a character from the 1990 film King of New York. At the Source Awards in August 1995, he was named Best New Artist (Solo), Lyricist of the Year, Live Performer of the Year, and his debut Album of the Year. At the Billboard Awards, he was Rap Artist of the Year.

In his year of success, Wallace became involved in a rivalry between the East and West Coast hip hop scenes with Shakur, now his former friend. In an interview with Vibe in April 1995, while serving time in Clinton Correctional Facility, Shakur accused Uptown Records' founder Andre Harrell, Sean Combs, and Wallace of having prior knowledge of a robbery that resulted in him being shot five times and losing thousands of dollars worth of jewelry on the night of November 30, 1994. Though Wallace and his entourage were in the same Manhattan-based recording studio at the time of the shooting, they denied the accusation. Wallace said: "It just happened to be a coincidence that he was in the studio. He just, he couldn't really say who really had something to do with it at the time. So he just kinda' leaned the blame on me." In 2012, a man named Dexter Isaac, serving a life sentence for unrelated crimes, claimed that he attacked Shakur that night and that the robbery was orchestrated by entertainment industry executive and former drug trafficker, James Rosemond.

Following his release from prison, Shakur signed to Death Row Records on October 15, 1995. This made Bad Boy Records and Death Row business rivals, and thus intensified the quarrel.

1996: Collaboration with Michael Jackson, more arrests, accusations regarding Shakur's death, and second child

Wallace began recording his second studio album in September 1995 over 18 months in New York City, Trinidad, and Los Angeles. The recording was interrupted by injury, legal disputes, and a highly publicized hip hop dispute. During this time, Wallace also worked with pop singer Michael Jackson on the album HIStory. Lil' Cease later claimed that while Wallace met Jackson, he was forced to stay behind, with Wallace citing that he did not "trust Michael with kids" following the 1993 child sexual abuse allegations against Jackson. Engineer John Van Nest and producer Dallas Austin recalled the sessions differently, saying that Wallace was eager to meet Jackson and nearly burst into tears upon doing so.

On March 23, 1996, Wallace was arrested outside a Manhattan nightclub for chasing and threatening to kill two fans seeking autographs, smashing the windows of their taxicab, and punching one of them. He pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment and was sentenced to 100 hours of community service. In mid-1996, he was arrested at his home in Teaneck, New Jersey, for drug and weapons possession charges.

In June 1996, Shakur released "Hit 'Em Up", a diss track in which he claimed to have had sex with Faith Evans, who was estranged from Wallace at the time, and that Wallace had copied his style and image. Wallace referenced the first claim on Jay-Z's "Brooklyn's Finest", in which he raps: "If Faye have twins, she'd probably have two 'Pacs. Get it? 2Pac's?" However, he did not directly respond to the track, stating in a 1997 radio interview that it was "not style" to respond.

On September 7, 1996, Shakur was shot multiple times in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas and died six days later. Rumors of Wallace's involvement with Shakur's murder spread. In a 2002 Los Angeles Times series titled "Who Killed Tupac Shakur?", based on police reports and multiple sources, Chuck Philips reported that the shooting was carried out by a Compton gang, the Southside Crips, to avenge a beating by Shakur hours earlier, and that Wallace had paid for the gun. Los Angeles Times editor Mark Duvoisin wrote that "Philips' story has withstood all challenges to its accuracy, ...  remains the definitive account of the Shakur slaying." Wallace's family denied the report, producing documents purporting to show that he was in New York and New Jersey at the time. However, The New York Times called the documents inconclusive, stating:

The pages purport to be three computer printouts from Daddy's House, indicating that Wallace was in the studio recording a song called Nasty Boy on the night Shakur was shot. They indicate that Wallace wrote half the session, was in and out/sat around and laid down a ref, shorthand for a reference vocal, the equivalent of a first take. But nothing indicates when the documents were created. And Louis Alfred, the recording engineer listed on the sheets, said in an interview that he remembered recording the song with Wallace in a late-night session, not during the day. He could not recall the date of the session but said it was likely not the night Shakur was shot. We would have heard about it, Mr. Alfred said."

Evans remembered her husband calling her on the night of Shakur's death and crying from shock. She said: "I think it's fair to say he was probably afraid, given everything that was going on at that time and all the hype that was put on this so-called beef that he didn't really have in his heart against anyone." Wayne Barrow, Wallace's co-manager at the time, said Wallace was recording the track "Nasty Girl" the night Shakur was shot. Shortly after Shakur's death, he met with Snoop Dogg, who claimed that Wallace played the song "Somebody Gotta Die" for him, in which Snoop Dogg was mentioned, and declared he never hated Shakur.

On October 29, 1996, Evans gave birth to Wallace's son, Christopher "C.J." Wallace Jr. The following month, Junior M.A.F.I.A. member Lil' Kim released her debut album, Hard Core, under Wallace's direction while the two were having a "love affair". Lil' Kim recalled being Wallace's "biggest fan" and "his pride and joy". In a 2012 interview, Lil' Kim said Wallace had prevented her from making a remix of the Jodeci single "Love U 4 Life" by locking her in a room. According to her, Wallace said that she was not "gonna go do no song with them", likely because of the group's affiliation with Tupac and Death Row Records.

1997: Life After Death and car accident

During the recording for his second album, Life After Death, Wallace and Lil' Cease were arrested for smoking marijuana in public and had their car repossessed. Wallace chose a Chevrolet Lumina rental car as a substitute, despite Lil' Cease's objections. The car had brake problems but Wallace dismissed them. The car collided with a rail, shattering Wallace's left leg and Lil' Cease's jaw. Wallace spent months in a hospital following the accident; he was temporarily confined to a wheelchair, forced to use a cane, and had to complete therapy. Despite his hospitalization, he continued to work on the album. The accident was referred to in the lyrics of "Long Kiss Goodnight": "Ya still tickle me, I used to be as strong as Ripple be / Til Lil' Cease crippled me."

In January 1997, Wallace was ordered to pay US$41,000 in damages following an incident involving a friend of a concert promoter who claimed Wallace and his entourage beat him following a dispute in May 1995. He faced criminal assault charges for the incident, which remains unresolved, but all robbery charges were dropped. Following the events, Wallace spoke of a desire to focus on his "peace of mind" and his family and friends.

Death

In February 1997, Wallace traveled to California to promote Life After Death and record a music video for its lead single, "Hypnotize". On March 5, he gave a radio interview with The Dog House on KYLD in San Francisco. In the interview, he stated that he had hired a security detail because he feared for his safety, but that this was due to being a celebrity figure in general and not specifically because he was a rapper.

On March 7, Wallace presented an award to Toni Braxton at the 11th Annual Soul Train Music Awards in Los Angeles and was booed by some of the audience. The following evening, March 8, he then attended an after-party hosted by Vibe and Qwest Records at the Petersen Automotive Museum. Guests included Evans, Aaliyah, Combs, and members of the Crips and Bloods gangs. The next day at 12:30 a.m. PST, after the fire department closed the party early due to overcrowding, Wallace left with his entourage in two GMC Suburbans to return to his hotel. He traveled in the front passenger seat alongside associates Damion "D-Roc" Butler, Lil' Cease, and driver Gregory "G-Money" Young. Combs traveled in the other vehicle with three bodyguards. The two trucks were trailed by a Chevrolet Blazer carrying Bad Boy director of security Paul Offord.

By 12:45 a.m., the streets were crowded with people leaving the party. Wallace's truck stopped at a red light 50 yards (46 m) from the Petersen Automotive Museum, and a black Chevy Impala pulled up alongside it. The Impala's driver, an unidentified African-American man dressed in a blue suit and bow tie, rolled down his window, drew a 9 mm blue-steel pistol, and fired at Wallace's car. Four bullets hit Wallace and his entourage subsequently rushed him to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where doctors performed an emergency thoracotomy, but he was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m. He was 24 years old. His autopsy, which was released 15 years after his death, showed that only the final shot was fatal; it entered through his right hip and struck his colon, liver, heart, and left lung before stopping in his left shoulder.

Wallace's funeral was held at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel in Manhattan on March 18. There were around 350 mourners at the funeral, including Lil' Cease, Queen Latifah, Flavor Flav, Mary J. Blige, Lil' Kim, Run-D.M.C., DJ Kool Herc, Treach, Busta Rhymes, Salt-N-Pepa, DJ Spinderella, Foxy Brown, and Sister Souljah. David Dinkins and Clive Davis also attended the funeral. After the funeral, his body was cremated and the ashes were given to his family.

Posthumous releases

Sixteen days after his death, Wallace's double-disc second album was released as planned with the shortened title of Life After Death and hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 charts, after making a premature appearance at No. 176 due to street-date violations. The record album featured a much wider range of guests and producers than its predecessor. It gained strong reviews and in 2000 was certified diamond, the highest RIAA certification awarded to a solo hip hop album.

Its lead single, "Hypnotize", was the last music video recording in which Wallace would participate. His biggest chart success was with its follow-up "Mo Money Mo Problems", featuring Sean Combs (under the rap alias "Puff Daddy") and Mase. Both singles reached No. 1 on the Hot 100, making Wallace the first artist to achieve this feat posthumously. The third single, "Sky's the Limit", featuring the band 112, was noted for its use of children in the music video, directed by Spike Jonze, who were used to portray Wallace and his contemporaries, including Combs, Lil' Kim, and Busta Rhymes. Wallace was named Artist of the Year and "Hypnotize" Single of the Year by Spin magazine in December 1997.

In mid-1997, Combs released his debut album, No Way Out, which featured Wallace on five songs, notably on the third single "Victory". The most prominent single from the record album was "I'll Be Missing You", featuring Combs, Faith Evans and 112, which was dedicated to Wallace's memory. At the 1998 Grammy Awards, Life After Death and its first two singles received nominations in the rap category. The album award was won by Combs's No Way Out and "I'll Be Missing You" won the award in the category of Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in which "Mo Money Mo Problems" was nominated.

In 1996, Wallace started putting together a hip hop supergroup, the Commission, which consisted of himself, Jay-Z, Lil' Cease, Combs, and Charli Baltimore. The Commission was mentioned by Wallace in the lyrics of "What's Beef" on Life After Death and "Victory" from No Way Out, but a Commission album was never completed. A track on Duets: The Final Chapter, "Whatchu Want (The Commission)", featuring Jay-Z, was based on the group.

In December 1999, Bad Boy released Born Again. The album consisted of previously unreleased material mixed with new guest appearances, including many artists Wallace had never collaborated with in his lifetime. It gained some positive reviews, but received criticism for its unlikely pairings; The Source describing it as "compiling some of the most awkward collaborations of his career". Nevertheless, the album sold 2 million copies. Wallace appeared on Michael Jackson's 2001 album, Invincible. Over the course of time, his vocals were heard on hit songs such as "Foolish" and "Realest Niggas" by Ashanti in 2002, and the song "Runnin' (Dying to Live)" with Shakur the following year. In 2005, Duets: The Final Chapter continued the pattern started on Born Again, which was criticized for the lack of significant vocals by Wallace on some of its songs. Its lead single "Nasty Girl" became Wallace's first UK No. 1 single. Combs and Voletta Wallace have stated the album will be the last release primarily featuring new material.

A duet album, The King & I, featuring Evans and Notorious B.I.G., was released on May 19, 2017, which largely contained previously unreleased music.

Musical style

Vocals

Wallace mostly rapped in a deep tone described by Rolling Stone as a "thick, jaunty grumble", which went even deeper on Life After Death. He was often accompanied on songs with ad libs from Sean "Puffy" Combs. In The Source's "Unsigned Hype" column, his style was described as "cool, nasal, and filtered, to bless his own material". AllMusic described Wallace as having "a talent for piling multiple rhymes on top of one another in quick succession". Time magazine wrote that he rapped with an ability to "make multi-syllabic rhymes sound smooth", while Krims described his rhythmic style as "effusive". Before starting a verse, Wallace sometimes used onomatopoeic vocables to warm up his voice, for example "uhhh" at the beginning of "Hypnotize" and "Big Poppa", and "what" after certain rhymes in songs such as "My Downfall".

Lateef of Latyrx notes that Wallace had "intense and complex flows". Fredro Starr of Onyx said that he was "a master of the flow", and Bishop Lamont stated that he mastered "all the hemispheres of the music". Wallace also often used the single-line rhyme scheme to add variety and interest to his flow. Big Daddy Kane suggested that Wallace did not need a large vocabulary to impress listeners, stating that he "just put his words together a slick way and it worked real good for him". Wallace was known to compose lyrics in his head rather than write them down on paper, in a similar way to Jay-Z. He would occasionally vary from his usual style. On "Playa Hater", he sang in a slow falsetto. On "Notorious Thugs", his collaboration with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, he modified his style to match the rapid rhyme flow of the group.

Themes and lyrics

Wallace's lyrical topics and themes included mafioso tales ("Niggas Bleed"), his drug-dealing past ("Ten Crack Commandments"), materialistic bragging ("Hypnotize"), humor ("Just Playing (Dreams)"), and romance ("Me & My Bitch"). In 2004, Rolling Stone named him as "one of the few young male songwriters in any pop style writing credible love songs". In the book How to Rap, rapper Guerilla Black described how Wallace was able to both "glorify the upper echelon" and " you feel his struggle". According to The New York Times journalist Touré in 1994, Wallace's lyrics " autobiographical details about crime and violence with emotional honesty". Marriott of The New York Times wrote in 1997 that Wallace's lyrics were not strictly autobiographical and that he "had a knack for exaggeration that increased sales". Wallace wrote that his debut album was "a big pie, with each slice indicating a different point in life involving bitches and niggaz... from the beginning to the end".

Rolling Stone described Ready to Die as a contrast of "bleak" street visions and being "full of high-spirited fun, bringing the pleasure principle back to hip-hop". AllMusic write of "a sense of doom" in some of his songs, and the New York Times noted some songs being "laced with paranoia". Wallace described himself as feeling "broke and depressed" when he made his debut. The final song on Wallace's debut album, "Suicidal Thoughts", featured his "character" contemplating suicide and concluded with him doing it. On Life After Death, Wallace's lyrics went "deeper". Krims explained how upbeat, dance-oriented tracks (which featured less heavily on his debut) alternate with "reality rap" songs on the record and suggested that he was "going pimp" through some of the lyrical topics of the former. XXL magazine wrote that Wallace "revamped his image" through the portrayal of himself between the albums, going from "mid-level hustler" on his debut to "drug lord" on his second album.

AllMusic wrote that the success of Ready to Die is "mostly due to Wallace's skill as a storyteller". In 1994, Rolling Stone described his ability in this technique as painting "a sonic picture so vibrant that you're transported right to the scene". On Life After Death, he notably demonstrated this skill on the song "I Got a Story to Tell", creating a story as a rap for the first half of the song and then retelling the same story "for his boys" in conversation form.

Legacy

Considered one of the greatest rappers of all time, Wallace was described by AllMusic as "the savior of East Coast hip-hop". The Source magazine named him the greatest rapper of all time in its 150th issue in 2002. In 2003, when XXL magazine asked several hip hop artists to list their five favorite MCs, Wallace appeared on more rappers' lists than anyone else. In 2006, MTV ranked him at No. 3 on their list of The Greatest MCs of All Time, calling him possibly "the most skillful ever on the mic". Editors of About.com ranked him at No. 3 on their list of the Top 50 MCs of Our Time (1987–2007). In 2012, The Source ranked him No. 3 on their list of the Top 50 Lyrical Leaders of all time. Rolling Stone has referred to him as the "greatest rapper that ever lived". In 2015, Billboard named Wallace as the greatest rapper of all time.

Wallace's lyrics have been sampled and quoted by a variety of artists, including Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Alicia Keys, Fat Joe, Nelly, Ja Rule, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Game, Clinton Sparks, Michael Jackson, and Usher. At the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, Combs and Snoop Dogg paid tribute to Wallace by hiring an orchestra to play while the vocals from "Juicy" and "Warning" played on the arena speakers. At the 2005 VH1 Hip Hop Honors, a tribute to Wallace headlined the show.

Wallace had begun to promote a clothing line called Brooklyn Mint, which was to produce plus-sized clothing, but it fell dormant after he died. In 2004, his managers Mark Pitts and Wayne Barrow launched the clothing line with help from Jay-Z, selling T-shirts with images of Wallace on them. A portion of the proceeds go to the Christopher Wallace Foundation and to Jay-Z's Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation. In 2005, Voletta Wallace hired branding and licensing agency Wicked Cow Entertainment to guide the estate's licensing efforts. Wallace-branded products on the market include action figures, blankets, and cell phone content.

The Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation holds an annual black-tie dinner ("B.I.G. Night Out") to raise funds for children's school equipment and to honor Wallace's memory. For this particular event, because it is a children's schools' charity, "B.I.G." is also said to stand for "Books Instead of Guns".

There is a large portrait mural of Wallace as Mao Zedong on Fulton Street in Brooklyn a half-mile west from Wallace's old block. A fan petitioned to have the corner of Fulton Street and St. James Place, near Wallace's childhood home renamed in his honor, garnering support from local businesses and attracting more than 560 signatures.

A large portrait of Wallace features prominently in the Netflix series Luke Cage, due to the fact that he served as muse for the creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's version of Marvel Comics character Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes.

In August 2020, Wallace's son, C.J., released a house remix of his father's hit "Big Poppa".

A March 2021 Netflix documentary Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell, executive-produced by Voletta Wallace and Combs, focuses on B.I.G.'s life before he rose to fame as "The King of New York", and features "unprecedented access granted by the Wallace estate".

Biopic

Notorious is a 2009 biographical film about Wallace and his life that stars rapper Jamal Woolard as Wallace. The film was directed by George Tillman Jr. and distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures. Producers included Sean Combs, Wallace's former managers Wayne Barrow and Mark Pitts, as well as Voletta Wallace. On January 16, 2009, the movie's debut at the Grand 18 theater in Greensboro, North Carolina was postponed after a man was shot in the parking lot before the show. The film received mixed reviews and grossed over $44 million worldwide.

In early October 2007, open casting calls for the role of Wallace began. Actors, rappers and unknowns all tried out. Beanie Sigel auditioned for the role, but was not picked. Sean Kingston claimed that he would play the role of Wallace, but producers denied it. Eventually, it was announced that rapper Jamal Woolard was chosen to play Wallace while Wallace's son, Christopher Wallace Jr. was cast to play Wallace as a child. Other cast members include Angela Bassett as Voletta Wallace, Derek Luke as Sean Combs, Antonique Smith as Faith Evans, Naturi Naughton as Lil' Kim, and Anthony Mackie as Tupac Shakur. Bad Boy also released a soundtrack album to the film on January 13, 2009; it contains many of Wallace's hit singles, including "Hypnotize" and "Juicy", as well as rarities.

Discography

Studio albums

• Ready to Die (1994)
• Life After Death (1997)

Posthumous albums

• Born Again (1999)
• Duets: The Final Chapter (2005)

Collaboration album

• Conspiracy (with Junior M.A.F.I.A.) (1995)

Posthumous collaboration album

• The King & I (with Faith Evans) (2017)

Media

Filmography

• The Show (1995) as himself
• Rhyme & Reason (1997 documentary) as himself
• Biggie & Tupac (2002 documentary) archive footage
• Tupac Resurrection (2004 documentary) archive footage
• Notorious B.I.G. Bigger Than Life (2007 documentary) archive footage
• Notorious (2009) archive footage
• All Eyez on Me (2017) archive footage
• Quincy (2018 documentary) archive footage
• Biggie: The Life of Notorious B.I.G. (2017 documentary) archive footage
• Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell (2021 documentary) archive footage

Television appearances

• New York Undercover (1995) as himself
• Martin (1995) as himself
• Who Shot Biggie & Tupac? (2017)
• Unsolved (2018)

Awards and nominations

See also

• List of murdered hip hop musicians

References

Citations

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Bibliography

• Coker, Cheo Hodari (2003). Unbelievable: The Life, Death, and Afterlife of the Notorious B.I.G. Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0-609-80835-1.
• Lang, Holly (2007). The Notorious B.I.G.: A Biography. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-567-20735-4.
• Nance, Kimberly A. (2019). Ethics of Witness in Global Testimonial Narratives: Responding to the Pain of Others. Lexington Books. ISBN 978-1-4985-9889-7.
• Scott, Cathy (2014) . The Killing of Tupac Shakur. Huntington Press Inc. ISBN 978-1-935396-54-3.
• Wallace, Voletta; McKenzie, Tremell; Evans, Faith (foreword) (2005). Biggie: Voletta Wallace Remembers Her Son, Christopher Wallace, aka Notorious B.I.G. Atria Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-7434-7020-9.

External links

• The Notorious B.I.G. collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• The Notorious B.I.G. at IMDb
• FBI Records: The Vault – Christopher (Biggie Smalls) Wallace at vault.fbi.gov

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